Merry Christmas everyone........

From The Carltons

Feet on the Beach........

Yesterday morning at about 10am... we all went to the beach for some fun in the sand and swimming in the ocean.
We're off again to the beach here in a few minutes. We're having a great time! The weather has been beautiful! Our condo is wonderful! And the boys are having a wonderful Christmas vacation!

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"Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" (Psalm 144: 15). That's the way David concludes Psalm 144. In the first half of this psalm, he cries out to God for help. In the last half, he sings praises to the Lord because of the help He gave him.

"I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, the One who gives salvation to kings, who delivers David His servant from the deadly sword" (Psalm 144:9-10). This shows David's personal joy in the Lord. We can picture him laying down his sword, picking up his harp and composing a new song to praise and glorify God. We ought to have personal joy in our hearts also. We have many reasons for praising God, but too often we remember only the sorrows of life and forget the blessings.

Then there is national joy--"the One who gives salvation to kings" (Psalm 144:10). David was the king, and when God delivered him, it was for the good of the nation. How we need national righteousness and national repentance to have national joy!

Finally, there is family joy. David talks in verse 12 about his sons being like plants and his daughters like cornerstones that are polished for a palace. What a joy it is in the home to praise the Lord and see family members growing in Him.

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God's people ought to be joyful--expressing personal, national and family joy. Our joy is founded on what God does and who He is. Rejoice in the Lord today for all of His goodness, grace and mercy toward you in Christ Jesus.

hugs ... love & blessings,

.::Tam::.

Good Morning..........

from the beach in Florida.

Now ........ this is a sunrise!!!

Isn't God amazing!?! I mean......... look at this! It feels like you can look right into heaven!

you all have a GREAT day........... we're off to take the boys to the beach in a bit!

hugs... love & blessings,

.::Tam::.

**“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ~ John 6:51**

We're here.................

in Florida!!! We arrived this morning and spent the day just checking the place out! Its awesome here!
We walked along the beach for a while... enjoying the sun... sand and water! The boys were so excited to be here.. yet so darn tired of being in the van! 1400 miles will do that to ya!
This is a picture of the beautiful beach... the awesome ocean... and some cute little birds walking along the sand.
This is my tired boys! With the sun blasting them in the face... they find just enough energy to stand for a picture for me!


The boys are sound asleep... Ken it relaxing and watching TV... I'm catching up on email and posting here :)
We went to the store today to stock the kitchen with food. With all they have here in the building ... we wont have to leave here the whole time we're here.
They have hourly activities every day.... pools inside and out to play in... shops... restaurants... and of course the OCEAN!
I'll take pics tomorrow of our condo and the boys enjoying their day. We have our little Christmas tree all set up with a few gifts already under it and the boys stockings laying empty.... waiting for Santa to visit and fill them!

okay... off I go. I need to get some rest... busy day tomorrow!
hugs... love & blessings to you all,
.::Tam::.


**In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ~John 1:1-3**

Vacation day........

is here. We are heading out for our wonderful ... relaxing... adventure to Florida for Christmas today after Patrick's Basketball Tournament!

Stay safe everyone........ have a wonderful weekend and a Blessed Christmas!!!


hugs... love & blessings,
.:: Tam ::.

Gifts...Upgrades...Snow & God.......

Good Morning...

What a weekend!
It all starts out with my daughter and son-in-law locking their keys in their car with it running in our driveway Saturday morning... which with the big snow fall... has us all trapped until we get their car moved.
after about 20min. The guys get the car unlocked with alot of muscle power and a very strong piece of wire. Okay... now we can all leave...but we're now late to Patrick's basketball game. Good thing Ken took him to the bus bright and early!
No biggie... watched the rest of the first game and all of the second! :)

Sunday morning........ printer is acting up while trying to print the church bulletin....... paper jams every 3rd page... claims of paper tray empty when it wasnt.... etc. So what would have been an early leave of the house to get to Church for Breakfast... ended up getting there just in time!

Monday morning....... received a lovely gift (RAOK) in the mail. This beautiful and soft 12"granny square to help make my friendship'ghan for myself..... this very pretty snowflake ornament and a sweet card.

Then Monday afternoon........ Ken and I went to the Verizon store to see what we could really do to upgrade the family... house... etc. Well......... we went a little crazy! But I think in the end.. we are all going to be happy!
This is my new toy........... a BlackBerry Smartphone Tour. Isn't it cool!?!
I'll post pics of the other goodies after Christmas........... :)

Then it all get more fun... with Ken getting stuck in the drive this morning with his van!
while trying to get out... he notices a tire that is bald. So.... gets the boys loaded in my van... takes them to school and comes back to take his to the station in town to get a new tire.
While he was gone ... Christopher shoveled a nice clearing for him to be able to get out with.
Poor Patrick was so worried he was going to mess up his perfect attendance! He has had Perfect Attendance since 2nd grade. But they left in my van with plenty of time and made it to school with no problems and time to have breakfast and visit.

Now see.... this is the hand of God.
I had encouraged (in my wifely and motherly way) Ken and the boys out of the house early so they could take their time driving on the slick roads. God stops Ken from driving his van on a dangerous tire by getting him stuck in the drive. Ken takes the boys to school in my van instead...which ends them leaving what is usually regular time... and getting the boys to school at the same time they do everyday.
Kens tire is fixed now... the boys made it to school without any issues... and all is good!
Everyone is safe.... How GREAT is our God!!!

Mystery Project update:

Well... this is what I have so far. I have 5 rows of 4 all sewn together... and 2 rows of 5 sewn together. I almost have a second ... 2 rows of 5 together.
hmmmm? wonder what it is?

Clue:
I've never made this before.

hugs... love & blessings,
.::Tam::.



**But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ~ Titus 3:4-7**

Its Official.........

We're going to the Beach in Florida for Christmas!!!
This is a picture the owner of this condo sent us of the view from our balcony! AMAZING!
After spending last Christmas in Arizona & LasVegas... we've decided we are going to start a new tradition for the family. We're taking a new adventure every Christmas!! This Christmas its Florida....... wonder what next year will hold!
So this is what it looks like in Florida.............. ( sunny and 70*)

And this is what it looks like here at my house......(sunny with snow and 11*)

Playin' in the snow............

Now this is determination to play basketball!

Mystery Project update:

The 5 rows of 4 are all connected.

hmmmm.... off to connect more of those squares.... wonder what order they will be in now? hehehee :)

Clue:

There are 5 pieces to this.

hugs... love & blessings,
.::Tam::.


**“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16**

A Deck of Cards...........

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard.
The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.
As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?'
The soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'
The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'
The soldier said, 'No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.'
The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?'
'You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments
The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .
The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.
The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.
The ten represents the Ten commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.'
The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, 'Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?'

Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting

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Mystery Project update:

I'm starting to assemble it! I have 5 rows of 4 squares going. hmmm... Wonder what its going to be.......? :)

Clue:
Its a Christmas gift.

hugs... love & blessings,

.::Tam::.

**If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9**

Snow'd in...........

Michael and David playing on the trampoline yesterday while it was still snowing.

Playing on the swing set ........
Weeeeeeeeeeee.....

Oops............... face first

Oh my........... it stopped snowing.. but the wind is crazy.. the drifts are deep... and the drive is buried! One pass at a time is going to be what it takes to clear this.

I sure hope the snow plow comes by today!

I love the snow... love watching the boys play in it.........but I don't like the feeling of being "trapped"!

have a great day all.......... stay warm!

hugs........love........ & blessings.

.::Tam::.

**But the LORD watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. Psalm 33:18**

Show & Share ..............

Whew........... I'm finally able to get into blogger and post. Every once in a while there are some quirks that end up causing me to have to wait a few days to post.... but we get through them.

Anyway... wanted to take a few minutes to post a few pics of things I've received... things I've made and an update on the Mystery Project.

This is a bunch of goodies i received for a Secret Santa Swap.

This is a 12" granny square I received as a Holiday RAOK for a Friendship Comfortghan I'm going to make myself.

Here we have some very yummy coffee and two lovely dishcloths that I also received as a Holiday RAOK.

Mystery Project:

Well.............. here is an updated pic of what I have done. I only need 2 more squares.. then I will start to assemble it!

So................... for today's clues to guess what it will be:

1) I need 62 -ish squares

2) They are 4" squares

Have a great evening everyone!

hugs... love & blessings

.::Tam::.

**But the LORD watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. Psalm 33:18 **

A Sticky Situation...

Duct Tape Bags I've been making for gifts lately.

This is a nice little clutch bag.

Christmas goodie bag

Tote bag/purse in school colors

Tote bag/purse in school colors

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a GREAT day!!!

God Bless,

.::Tam::.

updates tomorrow on my *Mystery Project*

**For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. James 1:23**

A lovely Christmas story...

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket.

Their father was gone.

The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two.

Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.

Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.

He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries.

Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either.

If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.

I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job.

The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck.

The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince who ever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids.

She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.

That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers, we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel.

When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money-- fully half of what I averaged every night.

As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana ? I wondered.

I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning.

Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. There were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe.

A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine.

The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.

When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop....

THE POWER OF PRAYER.

I believe that God only gives three answers to prayer:

1. 'Yes!'

2. 'Not yet.'

3. 'I have something better in mind.'

God still sits on the throne, the devil is a liar.

You may be going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that you cannot imagine!!!

Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power..

Amen.

hugs, love & blessings,

.::Tam::.

Christmas Special.............

Duct Tape Bag/purse

With every Bag purchase... receive a matching wallet FREE!

Bag ~ $15
Wallet ~ FREE

Shipping ~ $5 priority

email order to address on side bar.

or visit my store...... WrappedtoGo

Lots of colors to chose from!!!

Basic Colors:

Black

White

Gray

Red

Yellow

Green

Blue

Purple

Brown

Taupe

Neon Colors:

Pink

Orange

Green

Teal

Silver

God Bless,

♥.::Tam::.